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Community Emergency Response Teams (CERT) Local governments prepare for everyday emergencies. However, during a disaster, the number and scope of incidents can overwhelm conventional emergency services. The Community Emergency Response Team (CERT) program is all-risk, all-hazard training. This valuable course is designed to help you protect yourself, your family, your neighbors and your neighborhood in an emergency situation. CERT is a positive and realistic approach to emergency and disaster situations where citizens may initially be on their own and their actions can make a difference. While people will respond to others in need without the training, one goal of the CERT program is to help them do so effectively and efficiently without placing themselves in unnecessary danger. In the CERT training, citizens learn to: -
manage utilities and put out small fires, -
treat the three medical killers by opening airways, controlling bleeding, and treating for shock, -
provide basic medical aid, -
search for and rescue victims safely, -
organize themselves and spontaneous volunteers to be effective, -
And collect disaster intelligence to support first responder efforts. WHY DO THE CERT TRAINING?
Well, it's like paying for car insurance. You might never need either; you'd hope not to. But if the occasion arises, having the CERT training, just like having car insurance, means you're as ready as you can be to help yourself, your family and your neighborhood.
HOW DO I JOIN?
CERT members receive 17 ½ hours of initial training. The course is followed by full-day biannual refresher drills, and an opportunity to assist SCFR at local incidents. CERT is provided free of charge within the county of Stafford to anyone 18 or over. Classes are taught in the evenings annually throughout the year at the Training & Logistics Center near the County Courthouse You can also organize a class for your neighborhood, business or community group. You need a minimum of 25 people to be trained and a location to hold the training. Call the SCFR CERT Unit at 540-658-7200 to schedule your class. Information about upcoming CERT classes can be found by visiting our Training Opportunities link. Prior to taking this course, you must have completed IS 100, 200, and 700. To access these courses please visit: CERT Liability Waiver CERT Registration Form
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